Hospitals can learn from Formula One race crews, according to a study in Quality and Safety in Health Care.

F1 race crews use checklists and databases during pit stops and are able to change all four tires and refuel the vehicle in about seven seconds. In this study, F1 technical managers were asked to give input to hospital clinical staff members who were involved in handing patients over from surgery to recovery and intensive care units.

The study concludes that three areas of F1 training that could be transferred to hospitals:

Proactive learning with briefings and checklists to prevent error;

Active management using technology to transfer information; and

Post hoc learning from the storage and analysis of electronic data records.